Volkswagen to Embed Micronas ARM-based Controllers into New Touran Dashboard (0311)

Marks First Time ARM-based Controllers Used for Applications in Car Interiors

Freiburg, Germany - May 21, 2003 - Micronas today announced that Volkswagen is using the Micronas CDC 3207G and CDC 3272G dashboard controllers in their new Touran compact-vans, launched on March 14 this year. This marks the first time that an ARM-based controller is being used for applications in a car's interior.

The CDC 3207G and the CDC 3272G are the world's first fully integrated dashboard controllers capable of driving up to seven stepper motors. The new chips integrate the 16/32-bit ARM7TDMI® RISC processor core to meet the growing demand for more powerful dashboard controllers that provide scalable future proof design to an expanding customer base.

"Micronas has 30 years of experience in designing ICs for automotive applications," said Peter Zimmermann, market manager automotive at Micronas. "The CDC platform of dashboard controllers has been designed according to the requirements of our lead customers SiemensVDO Automotive and Volkswagen. With the CDC platform, Micronas offers an optimal cost performance ratio which is a key factor for automotive applications."

"Based on a strong relationship with SiemensVDO Automotive AG, this is the first time that Micronas is making these specialized automotive IC designs available on the open market," commented Zimmermann.

The CDC 3207G and CDC 3272G are the first members of the Micronas controller platform CDC 32xxG that feature a high level of embedded functionality. The Micronas platform includes controllers for automotive applications in driver information, entertainment, body control and gateways used as a bridge between the different CAN networks in a car.

With the new platform, Micronas meets customers' requirements for more flexible solutions and more powerful MCUs to control an increasing number of functions within today's and tomorrow's cars. With the new chips, the customers' systems can drive up to seven stepper motors and system engineers have the freedom to select the number of CAN blocks as well as the Flash, RAM and ROM sizes. This is enabled by Micronas' scalable architecture allowing rapidly tailored derivatives.

The CDC 3207G dashboard controller features 512 KByte flash memory, 32 KByte RAM and a 8 KByte special function ROM as well as three CAN modules, two UARTs, two SPI, two I²C and a graphic bus. Also integrated is a dedicated module to display information on a segmented LCD without any additional hardware.

The CDC 3272G dashboard controller features 384 KByte ROM, 12 KByte RAM and a 8 KByte special function ROM as well as two CAN modules, two UARTs, two SPI, two I²C and a graphic bus. In addition to the LCD module, the device also offers a patch module for small ROM corrections.

Both devices are fully pin and software compatible. They also contain the superior EMI Reduction Module (ERM), patented by Micronas, which suppresses radiation and reduces electromagnetic interference.